Masked men shoot village chief dead

A barangay captain, allegedly a former drug dependent, was shot to death by two motorcycle-riding masked men in front of the barangay hall in Tondo, Manila, Wednesday night.

Police identified the victim as Joseph Moran, 54, newly elected chairman of Barangay 100 in Tondo. He succumbed to at least nine gunshot wounds in the head and body.

A closed-circuit television footage showed that Moran was sitting in front of the barangay hall on Jacinto Street when two masked men onboard a motorcycle arrived and fired shots at him at around 5:45 p.m.

The suspects immediately fled while Moran was brought to Tondo Medical Center where he was declared dead on arrival.

Moran’s councilman Edwin Bade, who was with him during the incident, was unhurt.

According to village watchman Irene Arse, Moran was a former drug dependent. He voluntarily surrendered for rehabilitation in 2017. That time, he was a councilman in the same barangay.

Arse and other barangay employees described Moran as a good man who had no known enemy.

In an interview, Manila Police District Station 1 commander Supt. Jay Dimaandal said they are looking into drugs, politics and personal grudge as possible motives behind the killing.

Dimaandal said relatives of the victim claimed that the latter was receiving death threats prior to the incident.

It can be recalled that former chairman of the same barangay was also killed by motorcycle-riding assailants in 2016.